What Would Rachel Say?

ASAP Environ. Sci. Technol., ASAP Article, 10.1021/es801937k
Web Release Date: July 30, 2008

Copyright (c) 2008 American Chemical Society
Government pesticide and fertilizer data dropped

USDA has cut the only public source of data on pesticide and fertilizer
use on U.S. farms.

Erika Engelhaupt


The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has eliminated the only
federal program that tracks the use of pesticides and fertilizers on
American farms. The move has left scientists, industry groups, and
public advocates surprised and confused about how to carry on their work
without this free information. The canceled program was the only one to
make freely available to the public nationwide data on the amount of
pesticides and fertilizers applied to U.S. farms. In May, USDA announced
that it had published the last of its Agricultural Chemical Usage
reports, which are based on detailed surveys of farmers' chemical use,
collected since 1990 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS). In an unusual alliance, industry and environmental groups are
lobbying USDA and Congress to restore the program, which costs $8
million out of an annual NASS budget of $160 million.......


David Wallinga, MD
Director, Food and Health
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
(612) 870-3418
www.HealthObservatory.org

July 31, 2008           From Nancy Alderman, President
                        Environment and Human Health, Inc.
                        http://www,ehhi.org


Op-Ed   In response to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission declaring the nations synthetic turf fields free of lead and therefore safe

The  story being told in response to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC)  declaring that synthetic turf fields  safe because they do not contain lead,  is extremely misleading. This declaration of "safety" is  misinforming the public about what the potential risks from synthetic turf really are.

Environment and Human Health Inc. (EHHI) remains as  concerned as ever about the synthetic turf fields that are being installed by schools and towns all over  the United States.  EHHI is a 9 - member, nonprofit organization composed of physicians, public health professionals and policy experts dedicated to protecting human health from environmental harms through research, education and improving public policy. EHHI is supported by foundations and receives no funding from either businesses or corporations.

When Environment and Human Health, Inc.,  (EHHI) researched the health issues presented by  synthetic turf fields it looked at the ground-up rubber tire in-fill that is a major component of  synthetic turf. The in-fill is made of used  rubber tires. In some states used rubber tires are considered a "hazardous" waste and in other states they are considered a "special" waste.

When the he U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC)  tested the fields they only tested the plastic or nylon fake grass for lead. Not finding lead in their extremely small sampling of fields --- the USCPSC then declared all fields safe. They never even looked at the ground-up rubber tire in-fill for its health risks - which remain an enormous worry.

When the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station tested the ground-up rubber tire in-fill they found the following five  compounds.

COMPOUNDS FOUND

Benzothiazole: Skin and eye irritation, harmful if swallowed. There is no available data on cancer, mutagenic toxicity, teratogenic toxicity, or developmental toxicity.

Butylated hydroxyanisole: Recognized carcinogen, suspected endocrine toxicant, gastrointestinal toxicant, immunotoxicant (adverse effects on the immune system), neurotoxicant (adverse effects on the nervous system), skin and sense-organ toxicant. There is no available data on cancer, mutagenic toxicity, teratogenic toxicity, or developmental toxicity.

n-hexadecane: Severe irritant based on human and animal studies. There is no available data on cancer, mutagenic toxicity, teratogenic toxicity, or developmental toxicity.

4-(t-octyl) phenol: Corrosive and destructive to mucous membranes. There is no available data on cancer, mutagenic toxicity, teratogenic toxicity, or developmental toxicity.

Zinc: There is a very large amount of zinc that is added in the manufacturing of tires and therefore there is a great deal of zinc in ground-up rubber tire in-fill.

Besides those chemicals, rubber tires often contain:

Benzene  Carcinogen, Developmental Toxicant, Reproductive Toxicant

Phtalates Suspected Developmental Toxicant, Endocrine Toxicant, Reproductive Toxicant

PAHs    Suspected  Cardiovascular or Blood Toxicant, Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicant, Reproductive Toxicant ,Respiratory Toxicant,  

Maganese    Gastrointestinal or liver toxicants

Carbon Black    Carcinogen

Latex     Causes allergic reactions in some people

Saying these fields are now safe because they do not contain lead is like saying that diesel exhaust is safe because it does not contain lead - or cigarettes are safe because they don't contain lead - neither of course is true.  

                Thank you for your attention,
                Nancy Alderman, President
                Environment and Human Health, Inc.
          

http://www.laundrylist.org/
TOP TEN REASONS TO HANG OUT YOUR CLOTHES

Electric dryers use five to ten percent of residential electricity in the United States!
( Learn more...)

10) Save money (more than $100/year off electric bill for most households). ^FN1

9) Conserve energy and the environment. ^FN2

8) Clothes and sheets smell better without adding possibly toxic chemicals to your body and the environment. ^FN3

7) Clothes last longer. Where do you think lint comes from? ^FN4

6) It is physical activity which you can do in or outside. ^FN5

5) Sunlight bleaches and disinfects. ^FN6

4) Indoor racks can humidify in dry winter weather. ^FN7

3) Clothes dryer fires account for about 15,600 structure fires, 15 deaths, and 400 injuries annually. The yearly national fire loss for clothes dryer fires in structures is estimated at $99 million. ^FN8

2) An outdoor experience that is meditative. ^FN9

1) Demonstrates that small steps can make a difference. You don't have to wait for the government to take action. ^FN10

Flipswap makes it easy for you to get something out of your old cell phone. Choose any of the options below and you'll be doing yourself, and our environment, a favor. 
http://www.flipswap.com

Drugs in Your Drinking Water?

Newspapers, radio and TV stations and, of course, the internet quickly picked up and ran with headlines like the one above, after a March 10 Associated Press investigation found drugs in our water...

Pass the Clean Water Restoration Act which would reaffirm the nation's commitment to fishable, swimmable, drinkable water for all Americans. This proposal won't specifically outlaw drugs in water, but it will repair damage done in recent years to our landmark 36 year-old Clean Water Act and that's a giant step toward building momentum for safeguarding drugs in our water.


 

Prior to Euro-American settlement in the 1820s, one of the major landscape features of North America was 240 million acres of tallgrass prairie. But between 1830 and 1900 -- in the space of a single lifetime -- the tallgrass prairie was transformed to farmland. This drastic change in the landscape also brought about a social change for Native Americans; in an equally short time, their cultural imprint was reduced in essence to a handful of place names appearing on maps. This program examines the record of human struggle, triumph, and defeat that prairie history exemplifies, including the history and culture of America's aboriginal inhabitants. It also highlights prairie preservation efforts and explores how the tallgrass prairie ecosystem may serve as a model for a sustainable agriculture of the future.
Watch the trailer  America's Lost Landscape

Beijing lawyer fights for pollution victims

An editorial Ma wrote "China's Water Crisis" a book often

likened in its impact to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring."

In 2006, his organization launched the "China Water Pollution

Map," a free online database about water quality. ...

Environment - http://features.csmonitor.com/ environment

How Industrial Farms Impact Health and the Environment

Background Information / Resources

Pew Report on Industrial Animal Production

Potentially fatal bacteria found in pigs, farmworkers
Andrew Schneider, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
June 8, 2008

Keep Antibiotics Working: The Campaign to End Antibiotic Overuse in Agriculture
www.KeepAntibioticsWorking.org

Food and Health Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
www.HealthObservatory.org

Dr. Wallinga's presentation at FoodMed 2007, titled Industrialized Meat and Poultry Production: An Ecological System Approach
www.FoodMed.org/downloads.html

To learn what many hospitals are doing to buy meat and dairy products from farms raising animals sustainably, without antibiotics or rBGH, visit Health Care Without Harm.
www.HealthyFoodinHealthcare.org

Green goods to come to the front of Britain's shelves
Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said today that green goods will need to become the normal products on our shelves in the future, while products with a big environmental impact will need to change.
Defra press release (10 July)

ROADMAPS http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2008/080710a.htm
 (We are piloting ten product roadmaps to demonstrate the sustainable products approach. - milk, fish, clothing, passenger cars, TVs, domestic lighting, electric motors, window systems, WCs, plasterboard. Further information on each of the roadmaps is available at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/consumerprod/products/index.htm .)